[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":49},["ShallowReactive",2],{"glossary-lead":3},{"slug":4,"path":5,"title":6,"description":7,"term":8,"wordCount":9,"hasExample":10,"inboundLinks":11,"isPublished":10,"html":12,"data":13,"related":28,"lessons":44},"lead","/glossary/lead","What Is a Lead in Sales? Definition and Types","A lead is a person or company that might buy from you — a contact who has shown some sign of interest. Leads get qualified into MQLs and SQLs and eventually become qualified meetings and deals. SDRs and BDRs are the first to work a lead.","Lead",227,true,22,"\u003Cp>A lead is a person or company that might buy from you — a contact who has shown some sign of interest, however faint. "Lead" is the loosest word in sales, which is why teams qualify it: a raw \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/lead/\">lead\u003C/a> becomes an MQL (marketing-qualified lead), then an \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/sql/\">SQL\u003C/a> (sales-qualified lead), then a \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/qualified-meeting/\">qualified meeting\u003C/a> on an \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/account-executive/\">account executive\u003C/a>'s calendar. The \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/sdr/\">SDR\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/bdr/\">BDR\u003C/a> are the first people to work a lead, deciding whether it's real or a dead end.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"in-plain-english\">In plain English\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>A lead is a maybe. Not every maybe is worth chasing, so the first job is to sort them: someone who filled out a form is a lead, someone who has budget and authority and a need is a \u003Cem>qualified\u003C/em> lead. The distinction is everything, because \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/follow-up/\">following up\u003C/a> on weak leads burns the day that strong leads deserved. A good rep is a ruthless judge of leads.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"why-it-matters-to-you\">Why it matters to you\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Your whole day is leads. A list of contacts in your \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/crm/\">CRM\u003C/a> is a stack of maybes; your job is to turn the good ones into \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/qualified-meeting/\">qualified meetings\u003C/a> and let the bad ones go fast. The \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/funnel/\">funnel\u003C/a> starts at the lead, and you are the gatekeeper of the top of it. Learn to qualify quickly and honestly, and you'll book more meetings than the rep who treats every lead as equal.\u003C/p>\n",{"title":6,"description":7,"primaryQuery":14,"term":8,"publishedAt":15,"author":16,"reviewedAt":17,"example":18,"relatedTerms":19,"lessons":25},"what is a lead in sales","2026-09-10","closers","2026-09-24","\"That form-fill is a lead, but it's not qualified yet — I'll call it and see if it's a real fit.\"",[20,21,22,23,24],"mql","sql","qualified-meeting","follow-up","crm",[26,27],"/academy/sdr/what-does-an-sdr-do","/academy/sdr/mql-vs-sql",[29,32,35,38,41],{"slug":20,"path":30,"title":31},"/glossary/mql","What Is an MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)? Definition",{"slug":21,"path":33,"title":34},"/glossary/sql","What Is an SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)? Definition",{"slug":22,"path":36,"title":37},"/glossary/qualified-meeting","What Is a Qualified Meeting in Sales? Definition",{"slug":23,"path":39,"title":40},"/glossary/follow-up","What Is Follow-up in Sales? Definition and How It Works",{"slug":24,"path":42,"title":43},"/glossary/crm","What Is a CRM? Customer Relationship Management Explained",[45,47],{"path":26,"title":46},"What Does an SDR Do? The Real Job, Without the Hype",{"path":27,"title":48},"MQL vs SQL vs Lead vs Prospect: The Funnel Stages Explained",1792888523030]